


Lexicon

by FigguyFangirl



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Mild Smut, Romance, Sunflowers, i don't know what other tags to put here, sengen, the author is a sadist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:47:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28665720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FigguyFangirl/pseuds/FigguyFangirl
Summary: Lexicon (noun); the vocabulary of a person-And the more Senku thought about it, the more he realised how true it was. They’d spent every day together for months on end now. They started out just rooming together but it soon changed to sleeping in the same bed and holding each other while they slept.  The spent mornings eating breakfast together. They knew the scent of each other’s clothing. They could map out the flecks in each other’s irises.Senku Ishigami and Gen Asagiri were unconditionally and forever intertwined. Their souls were stitched together. Ripping one away would hurt the other.
Relationships: Asagiri Gen & Ishigami Senkuu, Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu
Comments: 22
Kudos: 85





	1. Nexilis

**Author's Note:**

> Hi hello! <3
> 
> This story is set during the Stone Wars Arc. But it doesn't contain any manga spoilers, it's a plot line i made up myself.
> 
> The quotes scattered in the story symbolism a 'break' in the story.
> 
> IG: senkisboo
> 
> Enjoy <3

-  
**‘Where did love begin? What human being looked at another and saw in their face the forests and the sea?’** **~ Jeanette Winterson**  
-

Gen Asagiri’s back.

Senku Ishigami wasn’t impressed easily. But every time he saw his back, he was awed every time. This happened despite the fact that he woke up with Gen every morning.

Still, Senku only woke him up after a few minutes after himself being awake, just so that he could stare at his back and trace his finger down his spine.

Senku ran his index finger down Gen’s spine, a soft, shallow groove that went down the middle of his back. A childish, selfish part of Senku liked to believe that trail down his back was just for him. 

He moved his finger back up and traced the pad of his thumb over the small scar on Gen’s right shoulder blade. Every time Senku saw it, he was so glad it wasn’t a scar from any particular violent act. When he was told the story behind it, Gen told him these words exactly:

_‘Dear little Chrome threw a rock at me.’_

Months and months later, Senku still remembers the night he was told that story. How could he ever forget?  
How could he ever forget taking off that stupid lavender overcoat? How could he ever forget Gen’s hand on the nape of his neck for the first time? How could he forget laughing at the blush that ran up Senku’s neck? How could he ever forget Gen?

Well, that was the thing – he couldn’t forget him.  
He had a brilliant memory but this duel haired mentalist was something – someone, he _wanted_ to remember for the rest of his time here.

Senku saw Gen stir slightly. So he moved his hand down to Gen’s waist and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“When I was a kid,” Gen croaked as he flexed his shoulders to wake himself. Senku watched this in subtle awe – his muscles looked as if they were finally thawing after a long winter. It was strangely satisfying. “I used to think that you could feel the pain in a limb that was cut off.” He turned around and now faced Senku, leaning on one elbow.

Senku raised an eyebrow at him. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Thinking about it now, I now know that, Senku-chan.” He leaned over Senku then, one forearm next to his head. “Didn’t you ever believe anything fantastical?”

Senku reached up and laced some white hair behind Gen’s ear so he could see more of his face. Gen leaned down and their lips brushed ever so slightly. “I used to believe in dragons.” He admitted quietly. “But just like you, I see now how illogical that is.”

“Don’t you find believing in some sort of fantasy comforting?” Gen asked. Their lips finally met properly in a gesture that was loving yet assertive, because Senku didn’t like to beat around the bush. “Ignorance is bliss, right?” Gen breathed against Senku’s lips.

Senku nipped on Gen's bottom lip instead of his own in a motion of nervousness and dread. “I guess in some situations, yes.”

Yelling from outside broke them apart.

“Senku! Senku, Kohaku found horses!” Chrome said from outside.

“Horses?” Senku muttered.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a horse.” snorted Gen.

They both sat up, pushing the fur blanket off of them and got dressed quickly to go see if there were actually horses

-  
**‘The secret, Alice, is to surround yourself with people who make your heart smile. It’s then, only then, that you’ll find Wonderland.’**  
**~ Lewis Carroll**  
-

“Those aren’t horses,” Senku said as they crouched in the bushes near a grassy clearing, green tips poking out from the snow.

“Yeah, they’re stripy horses!” Chrome whisper shouted.

“They look almost magical!” Suika said.

Gen smirked at Suika then at Senku. “I suppose seeing these for the first time is strange. The famous pyjama donkey.”

Kohaku tilted her head at Gen. “A what?”

Senku snorted. “Ignore him. That’s a herd of _Equus quagga_ , more commonly known as zebras. However, Chrome, you were right thinking those were horses. They are part of the same genus as horses.” He stood up then, making some of the zebras flinch.

Everyone followed this motion.

“I suppose they were originally from the zoos and continued to breed.” Gen mused. “The population must be rather small though.”

Senku started plucking grass from the ground. “10 billion points for you. That’s exactly why we should take this rare opportunity.”

Gen’s eyes widened. They weren’t actually going to-

“Approach them from the side and be slow and quiet. Hold your hand out flat, don’t cup it.” Senku advised and stepped over the bushes.

Gen had seen videos of people being kicked by horses and he guessed that a zebra could do similar damage. Yet he still crouched down and pulled out some grass and followed Senku and the rest towards the small herd.

Senku made the smart choice and avoided the female zebras who were carrying fowls in their bloated stomach, knowing that they would be the most aggressive and likely to hurt someone.

Most of the zebras stepped away but one stayed, just as curios as the humans nearing him.

“Just like this, Suika.” Senku said quietly, holding his hand out flat for the animal to cautiously take it from him. Suika followed suite with Senku’s hand on her shoulder to calm her nerves.

Eventually, the zebra was eating from Chrome hand. “Senku, why are we feeding them?” he asked.

Senku replied while scratching his ear. “Not the zebra specifically, but humans have been using similar animals for travel and agriculture. Animals like horses and oxen, which aren’t common around here. It would be great if we could tame one to help with additional horse power – literally.”

But the peace soon came to an end when Kohaku took a few loud steps towards the animal and it dashed off.

“Oh come on, you freaking gorilla!” Chrome yelled at the blonde girl.

“What? It’s not my fault it’s skittish!” she replied defensively.

Most of the time when Chrome and Kohaku fought, Senku would either ignore them or tell them to shut up, but Gen noticed that this time that he just smiled as he watched them squabble.

-

“For the moon is fair. Where the stars lie, let us go there, you and I.”

Senku turned his head to look at Gen, who had just recited those words.  
The fluff clad mentalist climbed up into the observatory. “If I recall, those are words from Fenton Johnson.”

Senku shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I’m not a poetry guy.”

“I’ve guessed as much.” Gen sauntered up to Senku, who was sitting on the floor, telescope leaning over him. He crouched down next to him. He put his one hand over Senku’s. “My word, you’re freezing.”

Senku glanced at his hands. “I’m okay. If I wasn’t, I would have died already.”

Gen ran his thumb over Senku’s rough knuckles. “That’s illogical.” He gently kissed the side of Senku’s forehead then rested his chin on his shoulder. “Have you noticed that we’ve starting picking up each other’s lexicon?”

“What do you ean-may?”

“There we go.”

And the more Senku thought about it, the more he realised how true it was. They’d spent every day together for months on end now. They started out just rooming together but it soon changed to sleeping in the same bed and holding each other while they slept. They spent mornings eating breakfast together. They knew the scent of each other’s clothing. They could map out the flecks in each other’s irises.

Senku Ishigami and Gen Asagiri were unconditionally and forever intertwined. Their souls were stitched together. Ripping one away would hurt the other.

“We’ve made a fire. Come warm yourself up.” Gen says.

Senku displayed a crocked smile. “But first,” he leaned back and kissed Gen hard, the same, firm tenderness he always kissed him with. He kissed him like this because he was so certain of it. Admittedly, there were things he didn’t know or was unsure about. But he was absolutely certain of how deeply he felt for Gen.

They climbed down from the observatory and joined Chrome, Kohaku, Kaseki, Ginro and Suika around the camp fire that was melting some of the ground snow.

They both sat down on a log near the fire, Senku’s hand reached behind Gen’s back to sit next to Gen’s leg.

“Gen,” Chrome started. “What would you be doing right now if everyone hadn’t turned to stone?”

Gen chewed the inside of his cheek and pandered the question. He held up a finger as he answered. “I’d likely be doing some sort of stage performance.”

“Ah yes, you and your sorcery.” Kohaku muttered.

“Oh please~, magic is entertaining and takes skill.” Gen said.

“Well, if you weren’t doing magic and you could do anything else with the cool stuff in the old world, what would you do, Gen?” Suika asked.

Gen actually had to think for this one. He thought about what he was missing most right now. He answered with a nostalgic smile. “I would love to be in my room, watching the snow and reading a good book. May-haps a bottle of cola at my side.” He elbowed Senku in the side when he said the last part.

“A book?” Kaseki asked.

“Oh,” Senku said. “I suppose you guys have basic writing but no books. Hold on for a second.” He got up, disappeared into his hut and came back and walked to Chrome. “It isn’t the best quality, but I made rudimentary paper from flattened bamboo.” 

Chrome flipped through the rectangle thing, made with a leather covered wooden cover. It was filled with pages of drawings, of formulas, diagrams, names and much more. “Senku, is this al your bad science knowledge?”

“It is, yeah.” He replied and gave the younger scientist a pat on the shoulder. “I’ve collected quite a bit in there for you.”

Chrome blinked. “For me?”

“Oh save the tears. Yes, it’s for you Chrome.” He started walking back to Gen. “Don’t get it near fire or water and it’ll be safe.”

“Is that really everything that’s in your head?” Ginro said, leaning over Chrome’s shoulder to gaze at the book.

“Of course not. It’s just everything that would be useful.” He was about to sit down but then he seemed to remember something and scurried off to the lab to get something. When he came back out, he called for Kinro –who was faithfully guarding the bridge and Suika.

When the two had approached him, Senku explained what the small bottle was in his hands. “You two have probably noticed that the lenses of your glasses get dirty. I’m not going to get into the chemistry behind it, but this will help clean them. Rub some of this on the lenses and polish it with a cloth. But don’t get it near fire.”

They were both thankful and Kinro vowed to protect it with his life. 

Just before he sat down, Senku turned to Kaseki. “I noticed a small crack in the furnace. That should get patched up tomorrow.” He looked at Ginro and Kohaku. “How are your spears doing, you two?”

Despite Ginro saying he wanted a silver spear, they both said they were fine.

“You’re being awfully chartable tonight, Senku-chan,” Gen said quietly as he finally sat down next to him again.

Senku shrugged casually and placed a hand on Gen’s leg reassuringly. “I’m just making sure my people are ready to fight Tsukasa and his army, the small tweaks mean a lot in the end.

When they were done drooling over Chrome’s new book, Suika asked Senku the same question this time.

“Senku, if you could be doing anything you wanted right now, what would it be?”

“I’d be doing school work.” He answered flatly.

“No.” Gen said. “Little Suika asked what you would want to be doing.”

Senku pursed his lips. ‘If that’s the case . . . then I’d be in a room with a glass ceiling, so that I could see the stars while I lay in my bed.”

Chrome jumped up. “That sounds so baaad! We should make a glass ceiling!”

“Kukuku, t’s a massive job.” Senku was grinning anyway. ‘If we get a gap, you can try it out.”

A he said that last sentence, Gen felt Senku’s fingers press into his leg in a squeeze. But he could tell it wasn’t done to reassure Gen, but rather seemed to be done to keep Senku grounded in some way.

-  
-  
**‘If the moon smiled, she would resemble you. You leave the same impression of something beautiful, but annihilating.’**  
**~ Sylvia Plath**  
-

“What you reading, Mentalist?” Senku asked as he walked into their hut, hair damp from washing himself off for the night.

Gen lowered his hands, which were shaped like an open book in front of his face. He’d picked up the habit as joke, pretending to read like in the old world. “Come here and I’ll show you.”

Senku twisted his hair into a messy bun and climbed onto the bed. Gen opened their fluffy blanket and wrapped it around Senku so that only their faces were sticking out.

“First we need to yearn,” Gen said and he gazed out their small round window that gave them a view of the village houses.

Senku blinked. “Yearn for what?”

Gen replied after a few seconds of trying to suppress a smile. “A fire breathing dragon.”

“You bastard!” Senku said, elbowing Gen.

When the teasing subsided, Senku’s hand found Gen’s under the blanket and they both sat and gazed outside.

If being in the Stone World taught them anything, it was to appreciate the nature of the world. They didn’t really need lighting, the moon was enough for them to see the village.

Senku thought he was stupid for thinking it but being here in the Kingdom of Sconce made the cosmos seem closer, at a hand’s grasp. Every person here was like a walking star – stars that smiled at him. But the cosmic wonder he loved most was both above him and right next to him. As if the moon had been melted and poured into Gen’s veins.

“Gen.”

“Yeah?”

“ . . . In your perfect world – from just now – was it my cola that was in your fantasy?”

Gen saw the doubt, the uncertainty in Senku’s face. He reached out a hand and pushed the hair away from Senku’s face. “Of course it was.”

He had no reply to that. How could he express how overwhelming that small sentence was? So he did the only thing he could think of. Senku kissed him.

They weren’t sure how long they kissed for before Gen’s hands were undoing his shirt and they were lying down.

With Gen kissed his neck, hands moving down his torso, Senku decided for once to just push the worries away for now. He wanted to – no – _needed_ to appreciate this time with Gen. Because he very well knew it was his last.

“Senku, did I hurt you or-” Gen suddenly asked, hand on Senku’s bare thigh.

Only then did Senku realise there was a single tear welling in the corner of his eye. “I’m fine, just something in my eye.”

Gen’s breathy laugh against the skin of Senku’s inner thigh made him shiver slightly. “Something in your eye like may-haps your eyeball?”

“May-haps, yes.”  
_Just like you said,_ Senku thought, _I’ve picked up your beautiful lexicon._

-  
**‘It’s the same old story, it starts with a lamb and ends with the murder of the very person you should love the most.’**  
**~ Jose Saramago**  
-

Senku wasn’t there when Gen woke up the next morning. Nor were his clothes. The sun was already up so he figured that he was off doing something highly scientific.

“Busy bee, as usual.” Gen uttered to himself as he got dressed.

“GEN!”

A shriek from Suika made Gen tie his yukata at lightning speed and he was out the hut in seconds.

He scanned around him, expecting to see the results of some terrible science accident. But he only saw Suika at the edge of the trees, waving him over.

And even though Gen couldn’t see her face, he could tell she was utterly terrified and haunted.  
Without words, he followed after her through the bare trees. He sped up when she sped up, not caring when branches snagged his cheek or when he kicked up snow.

_Why were they heading to the beach?_

“Hey, I hear someone coming!” a deep, gruff voice shouted in the distance.

When they finally reached the shoreline, it took Gen a couple seconds to process everything.

Some of Tsukasa’s men were holding back Kohaku and Chrome, despite how much they kicked and screamed.

Chrome’s shout was what brought his eyes to the body lying on the sand. “Let me try save him!”

There was no longer a glass ceiling above Gen. It had flipped so that he was running on a glass floor that cracked with every step towards the body.

Suddenly, large hands grabbed him.

He tried with his might to shove them away, scratch at the skin. But it was not his own power that freed him from the hands of one of Tsukasa’s grunts. It was the orders from a deep, sickeningly familiar voice.

“Let him go for now.”

Gen took a couple of moments to adjust to the sunlight, but he still recognized the shadow.

Hyoga.

He was set free and sprinted straight past the man in the feathers and dark clock and knelt next to the body that was looking up to the sky.  
When Gen placed his hand on his cheek, it was ice cold. "Senku . . .”

Nothing.

He held his fingers over Senku’s limp wrist. No pulse.

“N-no . . this . . .” he stammered off.

Gen laced his fingers through Senku’s. But Senku’s fingers didn’t hold him back. And that limp hand was not enough for Gen to hold onto while the glass floor shattered beneath him.

Senku’s clothes were wet and there was no spear wound on his body. But there were red marks around his wrists and feet and neck, along with cut vines and rocks near him.

_Senku had drowned?_

No, Senku had _been_ drowned.

Gen couldn’t even speak when he saw a shadow loom over him. He looked up at white hair and a black mask.

“I hope you’ve grieved properly.” Hyoga said. He flicked his wrist. “Restrain him.”

Hands were back on Gen and he was dragged away from Senku’s pale, cold body.

And he couldn’t even scream. The void he was falling into swallowed even sound.

-  
**‘If you must die, I’ll envy even the earth that wraps your body.’**  
**~ Albert Camus**  
-


	2. Furusato

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hello! <3
> 
> The ending of the first chapter was rather cruel and confusing. WELL, you'll be getting some backstory and explanations in his chapter. But i can reassure you, that this chapter is dark too.
> 
> Also, thank you for the all the reads on my other SenGen story, [The Theory of Purple](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28340709) ! If you haven't alreday, I'd love if you could check that out.
> 
> IG: senkisboo

One Month Prior to Senku's Death

-  
**‘If you ever ask me how many times you’ve crossed my mind, I would say once. Because you came, and never left.’**  
**~ Ritu Ghatoorey**  
-

Normally Gen woke up from a simple touch from Senku. But he still seemed dead asleep.

Senku squeezed his waist lightly – a trick that normally woke him up. But still nothing.

“Woke up, idiot.” Senku said and violently shook his shoulder.

Gen twitched his arm and grumbled something.

Senku poked the back of his neck to annoy him. “C’mon, let’s go get breakfast.”

But the other man only pulled the cover tighter over himself and croaked. “Not hungry.”  
His normally smooth voice now sounded like thick gravel. And not in a sexy way.

“Hum.” Senku said as he placed his hand around Gen’s throat gently. Gen did as he was told. It didn’t sound good.

Much to Gen’s protest, Senku rolled him over and gently held his lips to Gen’s forehead. No fever. Yet.

“Lucky you Gen, I think you’ve got a cold coming on.” Senku said and was suddenly standing up out of bed.

Gen made no move to get up. “All the more reason to let me sleep in.”

“No, you’re getting quarantined.”

That made Gen sit up. “What?” a small cough came from his lips.

Senku was already getting dressed. “We can’t have you spreading it. These villagers probably don’t have terribly strong immune systems like you and I. We need to get rid of the cold before it gets worse.”

“So what must I do?”

“Stay here and leave everyone else alone.” Senku picked something off their small shelf and threw the fluffy shirt at Gen. “Drink lots of water and keep your chest warm.” Just as Senku was about to leave he leaned over the bed and was about to kiss Gen goodbye. But he pulled away, realising that he couldn’t risk getting sick.

The Almost Kiss was a small pain shared between the two of them.

-  
**‘There were moments today when I thought I wouldn’t be able to bear the next moment unless it brought you to me.’**  
**~ Franz Kafka**  
-

Senku was so used to Gen being there that it almost ached to not have the mentalist following him around, laughing with him or helping him out. Turning around and saying Gen’s name, only to realise he wasn’t there made him realise just how much time they spent together. They’d become such solid parts of each other’s lives.

So much so that Senku caved and visited him at noon.  
Gen was fast asleep when he showed up. Wrapped up in his coat and breathing softly. He wanted so badly to climb into the bed and wrap his arm around him. But that wouldn’t be logical.

“Mentalist.”

Gen shivered then blinked his eyes open.

Senku crouched down and placed a couple bowls on the floor. “Drink some of this lemon tea. Then gargle this salt water. And then drink this normal water.”

Gen coughed slightly. “Thanks Doctor.”

Senku nodded. “Just get some rest okay? Sleep as much as you can. But you’ll be better soon if I’m helping you out. Trust me.” He said it with no arrogance, only a rare tenderness

-  
**‘When you feel homesick, just look up. Because the moon is the same wherever you go.’**  
**~ Donna Tartt**  
-

His hand reached behind him and tapped around for him.  
But he soon remembered that Senku wasn’t sleeping in the same bed tonight. He’d already put himself at risk that morning.

With aching limbs and a raspy throat, Gen sat up.

In some ways, it seemed almost terrifying to not have Senku here with him. He’d always just been an arm’s length away. Gen didn’t feel as safe for some reason.

Gen looked out their small window and at the crescent moon.

Gen had never really loved anyone before. He’d never been told what love was – what qualified something as love. But recently, he’d pretty much figured out what love was - to him at least.

Gen knew he loved him when all things led back to Senku. Any thought he ever had somehow involved Senku. It was love when Gen automatically looked for him when he wasn’t in sight. Love was when his cheeks began to hurt with how much he smiled around Senku. It was love when Gen could be so understood without using words.

Before all of this, Gen didn’t believe that he deserved to be loved. But Senku let him know that he _was_ loved and that he deserved it.

Gen knew it was love when he looked at the moon and knew that Senku was looking at the very same moon.

-  
**‘Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.’**  
**~ William Shakespeare**  
-

“Senku-chan~ where are we heading?” Gen whined as they trudged through the snowy forest the next morning.

“Relax, we’re here.” Senku replied. 

“Where is here?” Gen asked as he gazed at the large snowy clearing they were standing on the edge of.

Senku sat down on a large flat rock and rested an arm on one of his bent knees. “Take off your coat, Mentalist.”

Gen blinked at him. “Senku-chan, as much as I’d like to try new things, I don’t think here is an appropriate place to-”

“Stop being gross!” Senku yelled. “Look, we can’t have you sleeping all day to get rid of the cold you’ve gotten. We can, however, force it out of you.” He said that last part with a worrying amount of cheer. He pointed to the clearing as Gen shrugged off his fluffy coat. “Run.”

Gen grinned at him. “I have absolutely no incentive to do that~”

Senku turned his head towards the trees behind him. “Yo, Magma! You can come out now!”

The order was followed by heavy footprints and excited yelling.

The beefy blonde man burst from the trees and charged straight for Gen, who ran in fear.

“You’re a – _cough_ – ha-horrible person, Senku-chan!” Gen yelled as Magma bounded after him in a circle in the clearing.

Senku just laughed in response and watched them happily.

An hour later, Gen collapsed from exhaustion from the workout.

“Oh yeah, I killed him!” Magma cheered.

Senku walked up to Magma, who was standing over Gen’s still body. “Kukuku, don’t get your hopes ups. Let’s drag him back to base.”

And Magma did that exactly – took Gen by the ankle and dragged him back through the snow.

As they walked, Senku’s eye was caught by marks in the snow. He let Magma happily go ahead as he investigated.

Footprints.  
And he knew exactly whose they were.

The people of the village wore very distinct heeled sandals. Senku and Gen wore cloth boots. No one from the Tsukasa Empire wore shoes save for Homura and Hyoga. Homura wore heeled boots.

These footprints were large and one shape.  
That left only one culprit.

-  
-  
**‘Between any two beings these is a unique, uncrossable distance, an unenterable sanctuary.**  
**Sometimes it takes the shape of aloneness. Sometimes it takes the shape of love.’**  
**~ Jonathan Safran Foer**  
-

Four Days Prior to Senku's Death

“That’s it!” Senku said in a muffled exclaim, as his tongue had just been in Gen’s mouth.

“Pardon?” Gen said, still dazed.

Senku jumped from the bed excitedly. “Marshmallows.”

Gen tilted his head to the side. “It seems as if you’ve taken the phrase ‘kissed stupid’ literally.”

But he was already walking out into the cold evening and summoning everyone else.

Gen put his face in his hand and shook his head. “You’re brilliantly mad, Senku.”

-

Two hours later, the whole village was sitting in front of a large fire all with long, straight sticks. Senku stood near the fire, a basket resting at his feet and he waved around a stick as he spoke.

“Alright people!” he started, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Back in my day, it was a campfire tradition to toast marshmallows over the fire.” He reached down and held up one of the squishy white treats up for everyone to see.

“But Senku, won’t it burn?” Chrome asked.

Senku waved his stick at the other scientist. “You’re quiet right! That’s because sugar burns hot and it burns fast. That is why, it has to be done just right.”

He stuck his marshmallow on the end of his stick and held it over the fire. Within seconds, it was already starting to brown. He pulled it out and held out the stick.  
“Ruri, as village priestess, you should get the honour of trying first.”

The blonde girl willingly stepped up to him and pulled the roasted marshmallow off the end of the stick and took a small bite.

Gen remembered how cautious the villagers used to be of Senku, despite him doing nothing but help them. It made Gen happy now to see that these people entrusted their lives to Senku.

Ruri swallowed and was about to go in for another bite before crying out in joy. “It melted in my mouth! It’s so warm and sweet!”

This was followed by many other people grabbing marshmallows and holding them above the orange flames to cook them.

Gen stood up and joined Senku a few minutes later. “Ya know, Senku-chan,” he said as he picked out a marshmallow. “Small things like this make me forget we’re in caveman land.”

Senku gave him a small smile in response. He watched as Chrome spun his stick around so that the entirety of his marshmallow was cooked through and was overjoyed with the results. Heck, even Magma and Jasper seemed to be enjoying themselves. And Gen was right – small things like this made their overall situation seem less complicated and terrifying.

“Oh no,” one of the younger kids whined as their stick snapped.

“Take mine, I’ll go get you an even better one,” Senku said and gave the child his stick and padded off into the trees to find another stick.

As he was snapping off the twig of a leafless bush, he saw something unfamiliar on the ground. He crouched down to see that it was a tattered white bird feather. He looked around on the floor more to see the same footprints he saw a while ago. He left the feather and made his way back to everyone else.

He snaked an arm around Gen’s waist and held him close. “Your marshmallow is basically charcoal now.” he pointed to Gen’s charred black treat.

Gen shook his head. “No, this is just the way I like it~.” He gently peeled off the black coating of the marshmallow and ate the sticky sugar underneath it.

As Senku watched him, he wished that he could somehow hold Gen even closer to him, protect him somehow. He wished it was as simple as just wrapping his arms around him and there would be safety. Truthfully, he wanted everyone here to be as safe as possible. But how the hell could he guarantee that if he worst threat had been in the treeline behind them?

-  
**‘What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.’**  
**~ Helen Keller**  
-

The Night of Senku's Death

-  
**‘The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there and the battlefield is the heart of man.’**  
**~ Fyodor Dostoevsky**  
-

On his way to the cliff, Senku passed the village grave area. He crouched down in front of a particular stone and placed his hand atop the stone.

“Finally seeing each other after a couple thousand years, huh old geezer?” he forced a smile.

He got back up and started towards the cliff. When he emerged from the trees, Senku saw that his killer wasn’t there.

Still, Senku sat near the edge of the cliff over-looking the ocean and waited.  
A few minutes later, he heard the heavy footsteps.

“Hey there, Hyoga.” Senku said.

The footsteps stopped.

Senku grinned. “No point in hiding now. I’ve known you were going to kill me for days now.”

Finally, the white haired man stepped out from the shadows. He coolly walked towards Senku.  
“What gave me away?”

Senku and Hyoga were now sitting next to each other on the cliff, hair billowing in the slight winter breeze.

Senku pointed to Hyoga’s shoes. “Your shoes leave very distinct footprints in the snow.”

“I see.” He replied calmly, looking out onto the soft, dark waves of the water.

There was silence between them again.

Hyoga broke it with a question. “If you knew, why haven’t you tried to stop me?”

Senku scratched his ear. “I have people to take care of. Doing this away from all of them would guarantee their safety.”

“I see.” He said once more.

“I have one condition though.” Senku started.

Hyoga turned his head to look at him and for once his dark blue irises could be seen. He was actually listening to Senku’s request.

Senku swallowed hard as he said it. “Hurt no one in my kingdom.”

Hyoga blinked in gentle acknowledgment. “That can arranged.”

Another moment of silence.

“You’ve almost gained my respect, Senku.” Hyoga was looking at the sea again. “The only reason you haven’t is because of your only weakness.”

Senku chuckled. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“The bonds and connections you made with other people are your greatest weakness.”

Senku gave Hyoga a crooked smile. “Well, it’s not like I was looking for your respect.”

-  
**‘The blood on my teeth begins to taste like a poem, like religion, like the way you look at me.’**  
**~ Sean Glatch**  
-

Present

A single memory came to Gen.

He’d been eleven years old and was in the hospital after spraining his wrist. Gen cried. But well, his doctor was calm. When he was patched up, young Gen asked the doctor why he stayed so calm while so many people were getting hurt around him. The simple answer was the only thing that kept Gen from breaking down even now.

‘Panic makes everything worse.’

So Gen Asagiri did not panic. He didn’t panic when his wrists were tied to a cut piece of wood and made to carry it on his shoulders. The same was done to Chrome, Suika and Kohaku but after they refused to shut up, cloth was stuffed in their mouth.

Gen didn’t need to be carried. He just had Hyoga himself walking beside him as they made their way back to the Kingdom of Science.

“Even though you’ve betrayed Tsukasa once before,” Hyoga started calmly. “I’ll give you this, Gen; you did a truly proper job of manipulating others.”

Gen didn’t reply.

“That is why you are going to be one of my right hand men now that I’ve conquered Senku’s people.” Hyoga finished.

He nearly stopped dead in his tracks. Hyoga used ‘I’ve’ instead of ‘we’ve’ or ‘Tsukasa’. The realisation hit him like a bullet to the chest.

This wasn’t the Tsukasa Empire’s doing, this was all on Hyoga. 

He should have figured it out sooner. Tsukasa had said many times that he wished to kill Senku himself but Hyoga had been the one to kill Senku.

_Had Hyoga killed Tsukasa? But how-_

“Ginro, cut the bridge!” Kohaku screamed after she’d spat out the gag. She was knocked out right after.

But there were already warriors here from the Tsukasa Empire. But none of them were attacking. Four had Ginro and Kinro cornered and there was one standing with a flame torch near Chrome’s storage hut. Squinting, Gen was able to see that the villagers were safe on the other side of the bridge.

“Gen! Where’s Senku?” Ginro shouted.

“Why don’t you tell him?” Hyoga said to Gen.

Gen looked at Ginro and Kinro. Then at struggling Chrome and Suika and Kohaku lying limp on the floor. They’d all been through so much together but this would by far be the worst.

“H-he’s dead.”

The thread behind Ginro’s eyes snapped and tears ran down his face. “N-no . . “

He saw Kinro about to launch his spear-holding hand forward but he called out to him. “Kinro, stand down!”

Kinro looked at him in utter confusion. But soon, he lowered his spear.

“What a proper job done, snake.” Hyoga uttered to Gen then stepped forward. Everyone’s eyes were on him. “I hope you all know what’s at stake here.” He looked at Kinro and Kohaku and Ginro. “Our numbers are greater than yours, do not even try to fight.” He then looked at Chrome and at the warrior that held the fiery torch above the storage unit. “Should you try anything, small scientist, everything you love will go up in flames. I can easily guess that there are poisonous and flammable materials in there.”

Chrome just hung his head.

Hyoga continued with his speech. “This will be the new base as your scientific inventions will be used by my people.”

One of his warriors’ approached Hyoga. Hyoga accepted what he was given and studied it.

He held up the Kingdom of Science’s small flag. “It should go without saying that The Kingdom of Science is no more.”

And he snapped the wooden pole of the flag under his foot and chucked the two pieces aside.

-  
**‘I was born with a knife in one hand and a wound in the other.’**  
**~ Gregory Orr**  
-

Kohaku, Ginro, Kinro and Chrome were all taken to makeshift cells in a nearby cave.  
Gen, on the other hand, was roughly lugged to a different cave which Hyoga and his people had already seemed to have taken over and forced onto his knees in front of a stone carved throne.

He couldn’t see Tsukasa anywhere.  
Gen had however seen Ukyo sitting on atop the cave of prison cells.

“Thanks to you, Gen, our plan went as hoped,” Hyoga commented from his throne.

“Speaking of which,” Gen smirked at Hyoga. “I’m more than willing to be your right hand man, as long as no one from my former kingdom is harmed.”  
He said it with confidence and an air of arrogance. But in truth, he felt sick with fear. The only reason he was agreeing to Hyoga’s terms was because he couldn’t be selfish anymore – ne needed to keep the others safe.

Gen had to admit, making him the right hand man was a terribly clever play. The people of the former Kingdom of Science would listen and trust someone they knew who was in control. It would make for a relatively smooth conquer.

And how did Gen know this?

Because he would do the exact same thing.

“If they do not cause trouble, we will not hurt them.” The new leader replied.

“Hyoga-san,” a woman’s voice said from behind Gen. He didn’t have to turn his head to know who it was.  
Homura appeared next to Gen – still with the aura of pink elegance as always.  
“The villagers are not resisting as of yet. We’ve located their food supply and are figuring out the mechanisms of their machinery.” She reported.

Hyoga nodded at her. “Good to hear.”

Homura then glanced at Gen, who was still on his knees and had his hands tied at his shoulders. She pouted then held her hand to the side. “Your spear please.”

Gen found himself looking at Hyoga himself for reassurance that he wasn’t about to bleed out on the cave floor. But the man in the feathery cloak didn’t fret.

A muscled warrior gave his spear to the pink haired woman and she held it against Gen’s throat. He felt the cold stone for a second when he gulped.

“From the moment I saw you,” she said in her small voice. “I hated this.” She grabbed the white, longer side of Gen’s hair. “Now I can finally fix it.” 

She moved the spear in one quick motion and his hair was chopped off in one go. The white side was now as long as the black side.

He stared at the strands of hair that lay next to him.

Homura gave the spear back and sauntered up to Hyoga. She stood next to him. She looked stern but Gen recognized the look on her face and the stiffness of her body.

She was stopping herself from reaching out to touch the masked man beside her. Gen knew very well that reaching out to touch someone you held dear to you was instinct.

Gen had known for a while that Homura was attracted to Hyoga in some way. It was extremely unlikely that he returned the feelings due to his cold nature. Nevertheless, Hyoga and Homura trusted each other.  
Gen pinned that fact high up in his mind.

“Gen, you will be joining Homura as my second in commands.” Hyoga explained.

Gen knew it wasn’t a total lie. Homura was probably going to watch over him as well.

 _Bastard to bastard,_ Gen said to Hyoga in his mind. _I’m quite impressed._

-  
**‘Wanna make a monster? Take the parts of yourself that make you uncomfortable – your weaknesses, bad thoughts, vanities, and hungers – and pretend they’re across the room. It’s too ugly to be human. It’s too ugly to be you. Children are afraid of the dark because they have nothing real to work with. Adults are afraid of themselves.’**  
**~ Richard Siken**  
-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, another depressing chapter ending.  
> Hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> School is starting up in a couple days so the next chapters of this will be a bit more delayed.  
> I know there wasn't alot of mourning in this chapter but that will be focused on in the next chapter
> 
> Thanks 10 billion for reading <3


	3. Kapal Selam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hello! <3  
> If you've been reading this, you saw that this was originally going to be three chapters but i changed it to four.  
> This is a long collateralize of a chapter.
> 
> You've probably seen the first episodes of Stone Wars by now and i think it's perfect timing to introduce one of my favorite characters to this story, Ukyo.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy! <3

-  
**‘I have seen machines fighting a lot. But only infinity far behind them have I seen the men who directed them.’**  
**~ Antonin Artaud**  
-

Ukyo Saionji straightened his hat after he jumped down from a tree, landing in front of his new leader. “You summoned me, Hyoga-sama?”

“Yes,” Hyoga nodded. The two of them were standing on the edge of what was formally the Kingdom of Science. “Has someone taken charge of your post now that you’re gone?”

Ukyo nodded. “I’ve asked Nikki and Yo to be on guard of the cave.”

Hyoga seemed pleased with that answer. It would never be admitted, but Ukyo knew that Hyoga trusted almost no one and was quite cautious all the time, which did not work in Ukyo’s favour. When Ukyo had found about the enemy leader, Senku Ishigami’s death, something dreadful had finally dawned on him. Ukyo was simply a good guy stuck in the position of evil – AKA working for Hyoga’s Empire.

“Ukyo-kun, you can understand English, correct?” Hyoga asked.

“Yes, I can.”

Hyoga handed him something. “I found this book belonging to someone. From what I can tell, it names and explains all of Senku’s inventions. However it’s written all in English.”

Ukyo looked at the leather bound book he was given. 

“Come.” Hyoga started walking into the centre of the Kingdom of Science grounds. “Tell me what each invention is.”

“Oh, uh, alright.” Ukyo scurried alongside of him and started paging though the book.  
Hyoga was right – it was all written in English. Ukyo hadn’t used English in a while considering that he was no longer operating SONAR. But the author had neat hand writing and he was easy enough to understand when chemistry terms and maths weren’t involved.

Hyoga reached a tall ceramic object and peered inside the small hole. “Is this a furnace?”

Ukyo flipped some pages. “Yes.”

“I suppose that was how they were able to fashion these.” Hyoga picked up a katana that was leaning upright against the side of the furnace. “Does it say how to produce more?”

“It does but I have no understanding of the principles let alone the procedure or mechanisms.” Ukyo admitted. Because well, it was true. He had a basic understanding of many engineering tools. Modern tools – that is what he understood.

The katana was put back down and Hyoga was already walking off to something else.

They ogled at many more inventions – a candy floss machine, gas masks, a chunky landline, magnets etc.  
Hyoga and Ukyo were impressed by all of it but they were utterly dumb founded by the biggest piece of machinery.  
They stood at the river’s edge and gazed at it.

“A water wheel?” Hyoga guessed.

Ukyo blinked at the matching diagram in the book, thinking his eyes were tricking him. “A hydro-electric power plant to be exact.”

And this was the first time Ukyo had seen Hyoga’s eyes wide with shook. “They’ve acquired electricity.”

Some of the other warriors heard this and muttered and gasped amongst themselves.

“With that in mind, they must have developed light bulbs.” Hyoga comments and looks at Ukyo expectantly.

His fear of Hyoga drives Ukyo to flutter through the pages, searching for how to make a light bulb. But alas, he can’t find anything. His next discovery is one delivered with false coolness.

“Hyoga-sama,” he nervously stepped towards his leader, who towered over him. “This book – it doesn’t explain the basics. It just tells you how to make something complicated with the basic building blocks of chemistry and machinery. But it doesn’t explain how to make the basics.”

Hyoga considered something he wished he didn’t have to. “Senku Ishigami was not their only scientist. These is one other who is currently residing in a cell. If we want lighting, we shall have to consult him.”  
And he’s already marching off towards the prisoners cave.

When Hyoga and Ukyo stride into the cave, they get shouts from Ginro and Magma and sulks from Kinro, Kohaku and Chrome.

“Small science man.” Hyoga greets Chrome at his wooden cell door. “Tell us how to make light bulbs.”

Chrome is scratching at the stone floor, not looking at either of them. “How’d you except to conquer a science kingdom and not know things like that?”

Ukyo does actually agree with that statement. Up until two days ago, he assumed The Kingdom of Science had harboured dangerous weaponry like firearms and maybe even biological warfare. His former leader, Tsukasa had made them out to seem like power hungry mad scientists. But they were far from that.

Every invention he’d seen in that book had been written with superior knowledge and a fiery passion for science which seemed to have helped the people of the former Kingdom of Science. Ukyo had never met Senku, but from this book, he could tell that he belonged under his leadership and not Tsukasa’s or Hyoga’s.

“Answer me properly.” Hyoga growls.

Chrome seems unfazed. “Even if I did tell you, you wouldn’t understand.”

Hyoga’ hand shoots through one of the small gaps in the cell and snatches Chrome’s collar, yanking him to standing. “What’s that child’s name again? Suika, was it? I could kill her with a simple swipe of my spear.” Chrome stays silent in terror. Hyoga continues. “There’s also your former village priestess. She looks quite weak.”

“N-no.” was the only thing Chrome was able to stutter.

Ukyo knew Hyoga was smiling under his mask. “Seems I’ve touched a nerve.”  
Chrome answered him finally with a defeated sign. “If you want to make lightbulbs, we need tungsten for filaments. But we don’t have a lot left in our storage, so you’d have to go mining for it.”

-  
**‘Let’s vow to never become the monsters that we are trying to protect ourselves from.’**  
**~ Rudy Francisco**  
-

Chrome lowered his small hand held telescope and grumbled to the other two. “Three more kilometres.” He turned and started walking back down the hill and into the bare trees, dragging his feet through the snow.

Ukyo and Nikki followed close behind him.  
Ukyo had been picked to go mining with Chrome, as he was a good scout and Hyoga had reasonable faith in him. Nikki Hanada had been picked to watch over and control Chrome, as well as help with the heavy duty of the Tungsten mining.

All three of them rarely spoke to each other, save for when they needed to be informed about their journey onwards.

Chrome spoke to them without looking at either of them. “The cave is going to be freezing cold so it would be ideal if we spent as little time in there as possible.”

Nikki gazed at the sky. “Then we should probably settle down for the night – it’s getting dark and we can’t do three kilometres by then.”

“You’re right.” Ukyo agreed.

They found a small clearing, pushed away the snow on the ground and set up camp.  
As terrible as his situation was, Chrome had to admit that Ukyo and Nikki weren’t too bad compared to everyone else. They didn’t shove him around and they let him lead the way. He knew that was partly because it was obvious that they both had the upper hand should he try to rebel or escape.

“Chrome-kun,” Ukyo plopped down on the log next to Chrome.

“What?” Chrome muttered back as he watched Nikki make a fire a couple metres away.

Ukyo held out the book Senku had written. “I think it’s pretty amazing that you understand all of this technical stuff.”

Chrome glared at him. “Are you trying to butter me up? Win my trust?”

Ukyo bit his lip. The hard reality was that Chrome had every right to think that. In Chrome’s eyes, Ukyo was with the leader who had just killed Senku and threatened to hurt the people he loved. But what Ukyo had said was true – this book had clearly been written for Chrome, who was the only person who could comprehend its contents. Ukyo figured that Chrome understood the diagrams or already knew this stuff because he didn’t seem to know English. He knew that Nikki could understand some English. But who else could - 

An idea started forming in is head. “Chrome, I’ve looked in this and figured out how to make ink. I just don’t know where to find the ingredients.” Ukyo said quietly. “You know this area. Can you help me?”

The dark haired scientist looked at him like he had two heads and said nothing.

“I just need to write a message to someone.” Ukyo admitted.

Chrome sighed. “Fine.” He stood up.

“Nikki-san, we’re looking for something to eat.” Ukyo called to her.

The blonde woman nodded at them and continued tending to the fire.

When they trotted into the forest, Chrome gestured to the few sparse bushes around. “Start gathering leaves from the evergreen plants. Any will do.”

Sliding off his backpack and opening it, Ukyo followed these instructions.

“We don’t have a lot of it left so we’ll get more,” Chrome explained as he run his hands over tree trunks and looked at their branches. “Senku told me you can get Indian gum from Acacia plants or trees. “

“Oh, I . . . Uh . . . I don’t really know what those look like.” Ukyo admitted.

Chrome shrugged casually. “That’s fine. I’ll show you.” He studied a tree for a moment then moved on from it. “What did you do in the old world?”

Ukyo was caught off guard by the question at first. “Oh, I operated SONAR for submarines.” He pushed some snow off some leaves then picked them.

“That uses sound right?” Chrome asked. They stepped over some roots of a fallen tree.

He nodded. “Sound propagation to be exact.”

“What’s that?” Chrome didn’t ask the question AS a way to make conversation but because he seemed actually curious. 

Ukyo knew that Chrome wasn’t a survivor of the modern world and had learnt everything he knew from the survivors like Gen and Senku. Chrome seemed like a fast learner and someone who actually wanted to learn, thus Ukyo was happy to explain.  
“It’s mostly used underwater for submarines. You ca use it for directions and seeing other submarines or boats. Because of that there are two types . . .”

Chrome listened to and absorbed every word Ukyo said. He asked about things he didn’t undemand or know with a small sparkle in his eyes and determination in his voice. He even listened while he was collecting sap in a jar for the ink.  
At some point, Chrome completely forgot that Ukyo worked for Hyoga. Because well – Ukyo spoke to and treated him like an equal while Hyoga looked down on everyone who wasn’t proficient with fighting.

Spending time with Senku had taught Chrome many things. But one of his favourite things was learning to see the value in others. Senku was the best with science but acknowledged other’s strength’s therefore letting them stand on the same level. He felt like he was on the same level with Ukyo even if it was in different fields.

When Ukyo was down explaining, Chrome stood up and handed him the jar of sap and talked with a smile. “That sounds really cool. I would have loved to be in one of those submarine things.”

Ukyo took the jar from him gratefully. “I’m sure you could build one. I could even help-”

“That’s not going to happen.” Chrome grumbled. “Do I need to remind you that your leader killed the only person that could build something like that?” he walked past Ukyo, heading back towards their camp. “I just wish I could’ve done something to save Senku.”

Ukyo put the jar in his bag. “Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve – there’s no point in think about those now.” he said sadly. “We just need to think of the fu-”

But Chrome was already walking away.

-  
**‘In your light I learn how to love.’**  
**~ Coleman Barks**  
-

Crouching down. Chrome tapped at the small frozen stream at the entrance of the cave. “It’s going to be brutal in there. Let’s get going.” He glanced at Nikki and Ukyo. “Pick up some rocks as we go along. The floor is very brittle and unstable and you could fall into pits, so throw rocks at the ground before you step.”

Ukyo gulped. Nikki chewed her cheek.

A couple hours after crawling through tunnels and ducking under stalactites, they found what they were looking for.  
Just as they were nearing the chamber, Nikki threw a rock out and the floor crumbled.

“That’s what I was talking about.” Chrome said as he chucked a couple rocks to see where it was safe for them to walk.

-  
**'Sometimes good people make bad choices. It doesn’t mean they’re bad. It simply means they’re human.'**  
**~ Unknown**  
-

As they neared base after coming back home, Nikki drifted ahead and Ukyo stayed net to Chrome.

“Chrome?” Ukyo said quietly.

The scientist glanced at him for just a second. “Mhm?”

Ukyo said what he’d been thinking for a while now but he figured now might be the only gap he gets to say it. “I feel like you and I would’ve been really good friends, had things been different.”

Chrome stopped walking and stared at Ukyo. He knew it was a compliment but it was one of those bitter sweet sentences that gets you in the gut and twists until you’re numb.  
“Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve – there’s no point in think about those now.” then Chrome walked off, ready to be dragged away to report to Hyoga.

It felt like every arrow Ukyo had ever shot had circled back to him and pierced him in the chest. He could hear nothing save for his own breathing for a second.

But Ukyo knew things would be different soon – if his plan worked out.  
Maybe he would one day help Chrome build a submarine.

-  
**‘Is there another life? Shall I wake and find all this a dream? There must be; we cannot be created for this sort of suffering.’**  
**~ John Keats**  
-

He woke with a gasp and sat up, shaking.

Gen didn’t remember what the dream was about but he only woke because it felt like he was falling and was about to collide with the ground.

He put his hand over his fast beating heart and looked around. He was in his old hut, the only light being the bright moon.

“Mentalist?” a croaky voice said.

Gen’s heart stopped beating for a second.  
Senku was laying next to him, light hair in a messy bun and wearing a baggy white shirt he’d sewn himself. His eyes were barely open. He reached his hand out to rest on Gen’s leg.

“Senku . . .” Gen whispered.

“You have a nightmare or something?” Senku asked, still half asleep.

Gen placed his hand atop Senku’s. “ . . . Yeah.”

The sleepy scientist raised his arm, gesturing for Gen to come closer. Gen lay down and rolled into Senku, who lazily threw an arm over him and went back to sleep within seconds.

Gen didn’t sleep immediately. He instead watched Senku like it was the first time he had laid eyes on him. Every time he looked at him it was like that – ever growing awe. He ran a finger over one of Senku’s petrification scars. Every part of Senku was so easy to love. Gen loved him without question.

He glanced over Senku’s shoulder. From their window, stared a face with white hair and a black mask.

Gen was frozen.

Hyoga lifted a hand and made a squeezing motion with his fingers.

Gen looked at Senku.  
There was a small trail of blood running from the corner of his mouth and bruises on his neck.  
“S-stop.” Gen squeaked at Hyoga. Hot tears burned his cheeks.

Hyoga pulled down his mask and showed off his awful smile, dark blue eyes wide and piercing.

Gen gasped again.

He was no longer with Senku. He was in the cave cell Hyoga ordered him to sleep in at night.

He hunched to the side and started dry heaving.  
He hadn’t had the appetite to eat that night so only spit dripped from his lips.

Gen wasn’t sure if he could count that as a good dream or an utter nightmare.

He ran his hand over the stone floor next to him in the dark, making extra sure Senku was there. When he felt no warm body. He ran his hand through his hair in defeat. He then felt his short white hair, remembering how Homura had cut it four days ago.

Gen didn’t need light to know that they were there – red rings around his wrists and another around his neck. He was treated like a dog to put it simply. Hyoga or Homura would drag him at their sides on a rope, using him to negotiate unity with the new members of the Kingdom of Might.

He was about to attempt slumber once more but he heard something from outside.

Whistling?

It was coming from above. Gen looked up but only saw the cave roof. The cave roof –

Ukyo was whistling. But he never normally did. But the whistling wasn’t a constant sound. It was broken, in intervals.

It was Morse code.

He listened carefully, putting together the words.

_I’m sending a message to Tsukasa._

Gen’s eyes widened.

_Hyoga threatened to destroy Tsukasa’s sister in stone form._

So _that’s_ how Hyoga was able to take over.

_Tsukasa can help us defeat him. ___

__There was a pause after the last sentence._ _

___I’m on your side._ _ _

__Gen nearly collapsed in utter relief. However, Gen still wondered just how Ukyo would convince Tsukasa to return._ _

_- <  
**‘Either kill the desire for revolution that stirs in my heart, or completely change these heavens and the earth. Do one thing or the other.’**  
**~ Allama Iqbal**  
\- _

__

__

As expected, Taiju took the news of Senku’s death pretty hard. And why wouldn’t he? He and Senku had been friends for years and years. 

Yuzuriha watched Taiju work on peeling vegetables like he always did. She wondered if he was distracting himself from work as a way to deal with the grief.

“Yuzuriha-san,” Ukyo called out as he jumped down next to her from a tree.

She flinched from his sudden appearance. “Yes, Ukyo-kun?”

The archer glanced around him before replying. “I’ve sent a message to Tsukasa.”

“How?”

Ukyo gestured to Chrome, who was making lightbulbs under Hyoga’s orders. “I was able to make ink. So I wrote the message down and shot it into the cave I knew he was hiding in.”

Yuzuriha sighed in relief. “That’s really amazing, Ukyo-kun. Now we just need to hope he returns.”

They both still remembered the day Hyoga had kicked Tsukasa from his throne.

It happened after Homura had found the stone statue of Tsukasa’s sister, Mirai, and reported this finding to Hyoga. The masked man jumped on the opportunity minutes later by meeting with Tsukasa.  
Hyoga threatened to break the stone statue of Mirai if Tsukasa didn’t step down from his position.

It was the first time anyone had ever seen Tsukasa terrified and submissive to someone else.  
Needless to say, Tsukasa left his former empire at his own will, the stone statue of his sister still in Hyoga’s possession.

Ukyo had secretly expressed his distain of the situation to Yuzuriha, who agreed with him.  
Yuzuriha had also said that it was technically fine if Hyoga had broken the statue, as she’d been slowly piercing together all the already broken statues. She believed that with the power of science these people could be revived like everyone else. Seeing what Senku and Chrome were capable of, Ukyo believed that as well.

“Even if Tsukasa does return,” Yuzuriha started, “We need to convince the others to be on our side or at least stand down.”

They both knew that would be the hard part. People followed Hyoga like he was a magical cult leader. The people that followed him were pretty strong too.

Just then, Ukyo spotted Gen, Homura and Hyoga walking towards Chrome and Kaseki.

An idea popped into Ukyo’s head. He pulled out an arrow from his quiver and pretended to be studying the sharp arrow head while he casually whistled three words in Morse code.

_Weapon for Tsukasa_

Gen heard the whistled message but right now, he was focused on other things.  
Homura and Gen stood on either sides of Hyoga, who was watching Chrome and Kaseki making the requested lightbulbs. 

Gen could see the gears spinning in Hyoga’s brain. And before he expected it, the white haired man asked the billion dollar question.

“Chrome, have you actually developed working firearms?”

Ah yes, the weapons not even Hyoga could protect himself from.

Chrome snapped his head up from his work and looked at his leader. “We never needed to so no.”

“I’m aware that you’ve developed gun powder.” Hyoga commented.

Chrome rolled his eyes “Fantastic deduction. But we need actual guns and none of us here know how to make one.”

Gen knew it was only a partial lie. He’d looked through the book Senku had given Chrome. The instructions for dynamite, grenades and firearms were in there written in English. But it would be dangerous for Hyoga to know this.

As Gen thought about this, he thought more about the mechanisms of a revolt against Hyoga. As a collective, they could take him down. But his subordinates were a problem. Standing up to them would certainly lead to casualties. But they couldn’t just do nothing.

Hyoga didn’t nod as he replied. “Very well then.” With that, he turned away. Homura and Gen followed right beside him.

Homura was also a problem. Every moment she could, she was with Hyoga. She would do anything for him – even hurting others or herself. There were only four people that could go up against her and have any chance of hurting her: Hyoga, Tsukasa, Kohaku and Ukyo. She wasn’t much of an offensive fighter but she was fast and agile and could easily evade attacks. Hyoga was out of the question of going against her. Tsukasa was hiding. Kohaku was in a cell and being watched closely. And just like Homura, Ukyo wasn’t much of a hand to hand fighter, but he was fast and agile too and long distance fighting was his specialty with his talents in archery.

Gen sighed. The more he thought about it, the duller the situation seemed.

-  
**‘In case you have foolishly forgotten: I am never not thinking of you.’**  
**~ Virginia Wolf**  
-

No one followed him to the fake grave.

Well, it wasn’t a fake grave anymore.

Senku Ishigami was actually dead now.

Gen Asagiri stared at the wooden cross. The wind fluttered through his clothes but didn’t billow at his now short hair. He touched his cheek, where his white hair used to touch.

“You always used to make fun of it, Senku.” Gen whispered to the wooden cross. “It’s finally gone.”

The Mentalist sank to his knees, unable to stand now.

It felt like the inside of his body was lined with fire and he was waiting to combust. He started scratching the skin on his arms, hoping it would take the burning illusion away.

But he didn’t want his own hands holding him – he wanted Senku’s.

Gen’s next words came out in a choke. “I d-don’t miss you, Senku. B-because if I miss you-” he put his hand down on the stony ground, clutching onto tiny pebbles. “If I miss y-y-you it means that you’re actually dead.”

He held the pebbles so tight his knuckles hurt.

He was crying now. “I d-don’t want to miss y-you. I just wa-want you here. I need you here.”

Gen covered his mouth with his hands and muffled the painful keen that escaped his throat. The worst type of tears were the ones you couldn’t risk to let anyone see or hear.

He knew that if Senku was here, he’d reach out and pull Gen from the void he was tumbling into.

“Your name is Gen, right?” a voice said from behind him.

Gen spun around with a shocked gasp.  
But it wasn’t anyone to worry about. Just Taiju Oki.

The dark haired man walked up to the grave and sat down net to Gen, who was slowly recovering from the shock and wiping his eyes.

Both of them were silent for a few long minutes.

“Taiju . . .” Gen said quietly. “Senku-chan spoke about you a lot.” He continued with a small smirk. “He always called you ‘big oaf’ but he always smiled when he said it.”

Taiju sniffed. “Senku doesn’t – didn’t – enjoy the company of a lotta other people but if you’re here at his grave, I’m sure he liked you sticking around him.”

Silence again.

“I lost my parents when I was young.” Taiju started in a groggy voice. “If there’s one thing I know from that, it’s that the greater the loss, the greater the love was.”

Gen gulped. “I guess you’re right.

-  
**‘And here you come with a shield for a heart and a sword for a heart.’**  
**~ Carol Ann Duffy**  
-

It started with Magma.

The revolt started with Magma breaking free from his cell.

The moment Hyoga heard the shouting, he was already striding out his cave to see what was going on, Gen and Homura following at his heels.

“How did this happen?” Hyoga asked as calmly as possible.

In the clearing that was outside the caves stood Magma, Kohaku, Kinro and Ginro.

An arrow suddenly buried itself in the ground next to Magma’s foot. It was Ukyo.

Hyoga made no move to ready his weapon and all his subordinates awaited his command.  
“It would be to your advantage to step back.” Hyoga calmly said.

The tension was electric.  
But still no one moved.

Ginro was the first to move, darting straight into the forest.  
Ukyo was already after him.

Suddenly everything clicked in Gen’s mind. He looked at Homura and pointed at Kohaku. “She’s making a run for it too!”

Kohaku understood instantly and run after Ginro, Ukyo swinging through the trees in pursuit. Homura followed seconds later.

Just because Homura was gone, didn’t mean they’d be let off easily. They were surrounded by brutal warriors.

Their saviour stepped out from the cave who people were too distracted to watch over now. Hyoga turned around to face him. “Chrome.”

The scientist only had one thing with him – a small cloth bag.  
But Hyoga knew that whatever could be in there could kill him – poison or even gunpowder.  
But how did he obtain anything while being locked up? Whatever, he’d deal with that later.

Hyoga gestured for all his warriors to lower their weapons. “I can handle this quickly.” He reassured them.  
He pulled his spear from where he carried it across his back and clicked his neck to stretch. “You’re valuable to us, small scientist, but I simply cannot have you threatened my rule.”

Chrome showed off a determined grin. “Of course you’d say something like that. You’re scared, Hyoga.”

The cool, patient leader snapped in seconds. His dark blue eyes could now be seen. With one hand, he pulled down his mask and with the other he spun his spear. He licked his lips – like a beast about to feed – his tongue running over his petrification cracks. “It should be you fearing for your life.”

Hyoga launched forward.

But he was stopped seconds later by a hand grabbing his one arm.  
Nikki Hanada.

She unsheathed a large knife with one hand, the other still clutching Hyoga’s shoulder.

 _The perfect way to buy me time,_ Chrome thought to himself.

-

Kohaku’s only objective now was to help Ukyo lead Homura away from the camp and make her way back to help the others.

She was following Ginro. Ukyo was following her. And Homura was following Ukyo.

Kohaku easily caught up to Ginro, grabbed him by the shoulders and dived into a nearby ditch with him.

She’d been told Ukyo had good bearing, so Kohaku knew that when he soared past her, Ukyo had done it on purpose to make it seem like he’d lost them.

“Good luck.” She whispered and dragged Ginro back to the camp, ready to go up against Hyoga and anyone else that stood in her way

Homura was still on Ukyo’s tail, thinking she was helping recapture Ginro and Kohaku.

Ukyo hoped that Chrome and the others would be safe – he wasn’t sure what they were planning but he’d help out all he could.  
And he was helping out by leading the pink haired woman away and close to a specific cave.

“Where are they?” Homura asked, from her perched position on a tree branch.

Ukyo was readying an arrow. “I can’t see or hear them anywhere.” Gradually, he readied his bow with the arrow and pointed it right at Homura. He fired before he could talk himself out of it.

Only one sound rang out in the snowy forest: the desired target hit.

The arrow embedded itself in the tree trunk, blood covering the tip.

Homura touched the scratch on her ear where the arrow had grazed her.

“I don’t want to kill you.” Ukyo gulped, already aiming another arrow.

Homura looked at the blood on her finger then at him. “Fine by me.” And she made a run for it.  
Gritting his teeth, Ukyo followed on foot.

Every attempt she made towards the camp, Ukyo shot at her path and collected the amo as he followed her. It was tedious but he was slowly turning her away.

Eventually she stopped. He climbed up the tree opposite her and stood on a branch to face her, only a few metres of distance between them.

“So you’re a turn coat.” Homura says calmly.

“I’m doing the right thing.”

She tilted her head and pointed to her ear. “That includes hurting people?”

Ukyo swallowed. “I’m better than Hyoga.”

Homura said nothing, only jumped forward expertly.

Shit. Ukyo jumped back, needing to create a suitable distance between them. But there weren’t that many tree left behind him as they were nearing the edge of a cliff.

“You have power with Hyoga-sama.” Homura states as she jumped from branch to branch after him.

He stood on the furthest branch on the tree that stood at the cliff’s edge. Below him was a rocky ravine. “I don’t want power. I want people to be happy and safe.”  
Homura now stood on the same branch.  
They just stared at each other.

“Caring about others like you do is why you don’t deserve power.” She said flatly.  
She reached out a hand.

Ukyo pulled an arrow from his quiver.

Her hand shoved at his chest and there was nothing under his feet a second later.

But before the terror took over, he pierced the branch with his arrow head and held onto the thin shaft – the only thing keeping him from plummeting to his death.

The thin wooden shaft was already bending from his weight. He didn’t have time anymore.  
He didn’t have to time to grab the thick branch before the arrow snapped.

Ukyo’s eyes widened as he fell towards the sharp rocks below him.

He closed his eyes – not wanting to stare at Homura as she watched him fall.

_Please win, Chrome. Show your people what a submarine is for me._

-  
**‘Perhaps that’s what all human relationships boil down to: would you save my life? Or would you take it?’**  
**~ The Song of Solomon**  
-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All I'm thinking about is those Can You Feel My Heart edits of anime characters falling while thinking about Ukyo fall at the end.  
> I'm sorry for making this story even more depressing. I cried like three times writing this chapter.
> 
> I'll try my best to update with the last chapter as soon as possible, I'm just busy with school currently
> 
> <3


	4. Miru

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hello, welcome to the last chapter! <3
> 
> I cried and split Marconi all over my keyboard during the chapter. i know each chapter has been hell and saddening but just hold out!!  
> I love reading all your comments, they're always appreciated!
> 
> Enjoy <#

-  
**‘”What is belonging?” we ask. She says, “When loneliness ends”.”**  
**~ Rivers Solomon**  
-

“I’m not an aths-may genius,” Gen starts, “But I’m really good at long division.”

Senku chuckled. “Is that so, Mentalist?”

The two were in a grassy field near the village. Senku sat on the ground, leaning back to look up at the sky every now and then, while Gen lay with his head on Senku’s thigh, one of the scientist’s legs draped over Gen’s torso comfortably. One of Senku’s hands was brushing through Gen’s white hair softly. Gen looked up at Senku while he did this.

Gen grinned at him. “Well, I was shit at it in the beginning. But my teachers drilled it into me and now I can do it in seconds.”

Senku gave him his classic lopsided smile, which made smile even more. “With that in mind, let me tell you something.”

He gestured for Gen to sit up, so he did, still sitting between his legs.  
Senku put his hand on Gen’s cheek and leaned into to whispers something to him.  
“That long division you learnt?” he said, his voice tickling Gen’s ear. “It’s ten billion percent useless now.”

Gen frowned then shoved his face away. “Bastard.”  
He didn’t shove him very hard, Senku was just so weak that he fell back with a huff into the grass. But they were both laughing. Gen took the opportunity to roll his eyes then crawl over Senku and look down at him. Like a habit tattooed to their nerves, Gen laced a under Senku’s neck and Senku placed his hands on the small of Gen’s back. These were habits they’d developed over the last few weeks.

The kiss started off with hesitation but it turned into a kiss that felt so right and so natural.  
Up until a few weeks ago, Senku Ishigami hadn’t actually kissed anyone. Gen Asagiri had lots of experience but every touch from Senku actually felt meaningful compared to everyone else he’d been with.

Senku only pulled away from the kiss because Gen’s hair was tickling his eyes. He tucked the white away back. “I’m surprised you haven’t cut that yet.”

Gen chuckled against his lips. “I think it’s unique.”

“Senku! Gen!” Chrome’s voice suddenly cut through the air.

The brown haired scientist ran up to them in the field. It was easy enough to find one or the other. Where Senku was, Gen was. Where Gen was, Senku was.

They made no move to pull away from each other. Everyone had already figured out that they were close and well, they were just happy to see them happy with each other.

Chrome stepped towards them. “I need you to teach me how to make glissarine.”

Senku blinked then realised what he was taking about. “You mean glycerine? Why do you need that? Making dynamite or something?”

“You said it’s used in soap, right?”

Senku nodded. “You’re exactly right, Chrome.”

Gen and Senku got up and all three of them made their way to the village, Senku babbling on about glycerine.

Later on, the villagers were gathered around near the fire pit while the soap was being handed out.  
Chrome was not at all surprised to see Senku shouting at Ginro to stop eating the soap. Little did Senku know that Magma had already taken a bite from a bar of his soap. He also wasn’t surprised to see Gen surrounded by the village kids and Kohaku, who were marvelling at his little magic tricks. Gen didn’t seem to mind that one of the young girls was plaiting the longer side of his hair. 

With a nervous smile, Chrome made his way to Ruri, carrying her soap wrapped up gracefully.  
“Afternoon Ruri.” He said as he neared her.

She looked up from the cloth she was looking at on her lap. “Hey there, Chrome.”

As he was handing her the soap, he looked down at what she was doing. She was holding a thin stick in her fingers and delicately drawing something on the cloth with plant based ink. “What are you drawing?”

Ruri held out the piece of cloth to him. “For a while now, I’ve been drawing Senku and the village. I think it’s a nice way to carry down stories like I did with the 100 Stories.”

Chrome held the cloth and studied it. So far Ruri had drawn the current scene in front of them – Senku with all the villagers, Gen with the kids, Ginro and Magma with the soap, Kinro faithfully guarding the bridge in the distance and Chrome carrying the package of soap.  
“This is awesome, Ruri!” he says. “How many have you drawn?”

She smiled at him, making his knees weak. “So so many. Kinro and Ginro, you and Senku with your science projects, Senku and Gen and a few of Kohaku and myself.”

Chrome gave her a wide grin. “I have an idea! What if I ask Kaseki to make glass casings for these to be kept in and they can stay this awesome forever.”

The village priestess nodded. “I would love that, Chrome.”

Just then, Senku called out to Chrome.  
“Yo, do you remember these from when we first met?” the scientist rubbed soap on his hands and made a bubble that drifted over to Chrome.

Chrome scurried back to him in excitement. “Of course I do!”

-  
**‘To live is the rarest thing in this world. Most people exist, that is all.’**  
**~ Oscar Wilde**  
-

Falling to your death is nothing compared to being shot or having your throat slit.  
It’s slow.

Ukyo was aware of every second towards his death. He was aware that he was about to die.  
Tears welled in his tightly shut eyes and his arms wrapped around his torso. He was the only thing he could hold onto anymore – there was nothing else and no one else left.

Finally, his back touched something.  
Then it was gone in seconds.

Now he was lying in the stream surrounded by rocks.  
Trembling in utter terror and confusion, Ukyo looked around.

He was now at the bottom of the cliff he’d just been pushed off. But he was completely fine, save for soaking clothes from the freezing stream.

There were heavy feet walking towards him through the stream. “I stopped your fall with my hand.” The deep voice said. 

A single arrow was held out to him. “I got your message.” said Tsukasa Shishio.

-

Chrome didn’t have a lot of time. Nikki was keeping Hyoga distracted but she was already bleeding from a deep slash on her arm.  
He pulled a single, tiny vile from his cloth bag and everyone from the village saw this too, and took a few steps back.

They were the only ones who knew what was in the vile. The stepping back caused Hyoga’s men to grow cautious and squint at the bottle in Chrome’s hand.

I only have three, he thought, but I hope I don’t have to use all of them.

As he looked up, Nikki was shoved aside, bleeding form may wounds. Hyoga wiped the blood off of his spear and was about to turn around to get back to Chrome, until he was stopped by the sound of something being fired.

Hyoga was hit perfectly. His gloved hand flew to his face, clasping the wound.

Chrome could still see the shaft of the arrow sticking out from Hyoga’s right eye.

Ukyo stood a couple metres away, a grim look on his face. Nervously, he walked towards Hyoga and Chrome, another arrow readied.  
“Like you said, Hyoga,” he uttered, a shake in his voice. “Stand down and no more people will get hurt.”

The whole crowd was silent.

Ukyo was now right in front of Hyoga, an arrow pointed right at his throat.

Hyoga’s glove wasn’t even tan anymore – it was soaked with red from his eye socket. He quickly pulled the arrow out and threw it to the side, making Chrome wince.  
“Very well then.” He made a move to put his spear back on his back.

Ukyo regretted trusting that man for even a second.  
A spear head was plunged into his abdomen and Hyoga walked forward, shoving the weapon even deeper.

Between the two of them, there were dangerously large puddle s of blood gathering at their feet.

Hyoga pulled the spear away. Ukyo collapsed, holding his wound while shuddering.

“Ukyo!” Chrome keened, hand reaching out to someone who wasn’t close enough.

Hyoga turned around. Gen was now next to Chrome.  
Blood ran down Hyoga’s face and drowned his neck and chest.

Tears burning his cheeks, Chrome started yelling at Hyoga.  
“Don’t you get tired of hurting people? Your life must be hell if you’re so empty and heartless!” Every word of what he said was true but he was mostly doing it for Gen.

Spending so much time with Gen, Chrome had learnt a little about misdirection.  
And had anyone seen the vile handed to Gen? Of course not.

That’s why even Hyoga was surprised when Gen threw the vile to the side and an explosion erupted.

Had Gen or Chrome been a foot closer, they would have been burned from the explosion.

Hyoga took a couple weary steps back. Some warrior’s completely bolted away.

“It’s nitro-glycerine!” Chrome called out to him. “Although as a modern timer, you know it as dynamite.”

Hyoga stared at the explosion, only one eye open. He replied in a shallow, panting voice. “Doesn’t that make you as bad as me? Hurting people with explosives?”

Gen chuckled. “Do you know nothing about revolutions? The oppressed always try talk it out with the oppressor. And if that doesn’t work out – that’s when things get violent.”

“We’re giving one last chance to back down.” Chrome and Gen held more small vile between their fingers.  
That was also a complete bluff. Only two more had dynamite. 

But Hyoga wasn’t giving up. “And if I don’t?”

“Then you’ll face the one person, you said you’d never want to face.” A deep voice said.

Tsukasa Shishio.

Hyoga had only two words in reply. “Beak it!” it was the most desperate cry anyone had ever heard.

Tsukasa held a single weapon at his side. “You’re referring to the statue of Mirai?” he scanned the few people left around them. “Go ahead.”

Everyone could feel the absolute terror and regret washing over Hyoga.  
The white haired man looked at the weapon in Tsukasa’s hand. “Gen – you bastard.”

Gen grinned. “You think I advised forging axes to only help cut firewood?” he held his hands out triumphantly. “Our master craftsman, Kaseki, knows a thing or two about weapon creation.”

The double blade axe reflected the setting sun, held tightly in the Strongest Primate High Schooler’s hand.

Just as Tsukasa swung, Hyoga dodged it – his now hindered eyesight causing him to fall to the floor. As he was about to grab his spear, hoping to defend himself, Tsukasa held the ae above his own head.

“Stop!” a voice suddenly cut the air.  
It was Ruri with Kinro holding her back from the fight protectively. “Please stop!”

Tsukasa stopped, ae still held in the air.

“She’s right!” Chrome yelled.

Gen bore his eyes right into Tsukasa’s. “Don’t kill him.”

There was hesitation – everyone saw the twitch in Tsukasa’s hand.

The axe was swung down, straight for Hyoga.

-  
**‘I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.’**  
**~ Carl Gustav Jung**  
-

Gen Asagiri made his way to the village, wanting to see what all the cheering was about. And it was not what he expected at all.

“Hey Gen!” Chrome yelled.

The Mentalist jus blinked in confusion. “What’s going on here?”

“Nikki told me about hula hoops so I made some!” Chrome explained as he handed a hula hoop carved from wood to a village child.

As he neared the group, he spotted Nikki and Kohaku with some of the village kids, figuring out how to use the toy. But the best sight for sure was Tsukasa absolutely mastering the hula hoop.  
It turns out, Nikki had been the one to snatch the book of science and figure out how to make dynamite for Chrome. She had also aided in Magna’s escape.

Gen walked up to the giant. “I didn’t take you for a hula hoop man, Tsukasa-chan~”

Tsukasa replied while the hula hoop spinning around his waist expertly. “I did this to train my core muscle when I was younger.”

“Look at Kohaku!” Ginro yelled.

Everyone looked to the blonde girl, who was spinning a hula hoop around each arm.

Gen chuckled and looked back at Tsukasa. “Seems you’ve been out done.”

“That’s fine by me.” He was about to start hula hooping again but his attention was caught by someone else. “Mirai.” He stepped over to his younger sister, who was returning from gathering fruit with other villagers.

Gen watched the siblings gently. Tsukasa towered over her but he still smiled at her and gave her affectionate head pats.  
“What an interesting man~” he mused to himself.

He walked away from everyone and the hula hoops and made his way to the water storage, filled two cups of water and went to the man-made tunnel the power team had constructed after the union of the Kingdom of Science and The Kingdom of Might.

“Afternoon~” Gen said to the two prisoners, on opposite sides of the dug-out chamber.

Homura gave him a single glance from behind the cell. Hyoga didn’t even bother.

Gen slid them each a cup of water under the bars. He did it all with a fake smile.

Homura drank the whole thing peacefully. Hyoga got up with a grunt and picked up the cup with his left hand, his right arm hidden in his cloak.

Tsukasa hadn’t killed Hyoga all those months ago. He’d cut off the fingers of Hyoga’s dominate hand.  
Back then, Ukyo Saionji hadn’t taken out his eye completely. The head of the arrow had hit him through the tiny space between his eye and eye socket. This had damaged his optic nerve, leaving him blind in that eye. Now he just wore a white eye patch over the blind eye and stayed quiet in his cell.

Gen waited for them to finish drinking and then took the empty cups from them. Of course he wouldn’t leave without the cups. Hyoga and Homura were both clever and violent and no one could risk giving them any chance to break out.

-  
**‘Two souls don’t find each other by simple accident.’**  
**~ Jorge Luis Borges**  
-

Ukyo Saionji still had a bit of a limp after Hyoga had stabbed him. He’d barely made it. Chrome had stayed at his side even after he had administered herbal medicines.

And every time Ukyo had urged him to leave his side and go to lead the village, Chrome said no. But still, Chrome was loved by the Kingdom he now led.

The choice for new leader was rather easy. Chrome said Gen should be the new leader, but everyone else insisted that it should be him. Chrome was nervous at first, but he was happy to take up the role.

“Just a little further.” Chrome says as he and Ukyo are walking through the bright green forest.

Ukyo had given up prying as to what was going on so he just followed Chrome. After all, he trusted him.

But soon they neared a very familiar cliff.

Ukyo stopped walking, which caused Chrome to turn back and look at him.  
Ukyo had been terrified of heights ever since that day. Rightfully so.

“It’s okay if you’re scared, Ukyo.” Chrome said with a smile. “Everyone gets scared but it doesn’t mean you’re not brave at all.”

The archer just stared at him.

Chrome waved him over. “I’m right here.”

Ukyo took the couple steps forward, hand holding onto Chrome’s shoulder. They neared the edge of the cliff, keeping a few feet of distance from the edge.

“Why’d we come out here?” Ukyo asked.

Chrome gave him a fake frown. “Do you not appreciate the sunset?”

But of course he did. In the old world, sunsets were tainted because of pollution. But in this stone world, everything – even the beautiful – had a chance to start over.

“Also.” Chrome pulled something out from his pocket. It was a folded up piece of paper. Chrome opened it up with an excited smile and held it against the orange sky.

Ukyo looked at the drawing on the piece of paper. He thought back to winter, when he went mining with Chrome.

Chrome looked at the paper, with the sun shining through it and held it just over the sea. “I believe that we can all do this.”

It was a drawing of a submarine.

-  
**‘The way to know life is to love many things.’**  
**~ Vincent Van Gogh**  
-

Gen closed the door of his hut, getting ready to settle down for the night.  
He brushed is hair gently - it had finally started to grow back. Afterwards he took of his yukata and shirt. He could feel the material sliding over the small scar on his shoulder blade. He folded up his clothes and placed it on the shelf that was only his now. He pulled on a baggy shirt. It still smelt like Senku.

Gen climbed into the bed and under the quilt. He was used to getting into bed alone. But he wasn’t used to Senku not coming to join him after a late night in the lab.

He stared at the moon through the small window. It stared right back at him. He wanted Senku here, arms wrapped around him, muttering something complicated or snoring.

The last few months had taught him something. Just because someone is gone, doesn’t mean you’ll stop loving them. And he didn’t have the classic regret of not telling Senku he loved him before he was gone.

They’d never said the words to each other. The love was shown in actions, in other words. The love was shown by taking care of each other, laughing with each other, kissing each other and missing each other.

Gen found himself speaking to Senku like he had been for the past while.  
“I heard one of the village kids talking about a dragon today.” He sniffed. “Your dad must have included it in one of his stories.” Now Gen was smiling. “I guess some fantasies can come true.”

-  
**500 hundred years later**  
-

“Sakura! Be back in time for the festival!” Her mom called as her daughter ran out the front door.

The young girl grabbed her bicycle and made her way down the street, passing the families making their way to the city centre.  
Sakura Kein was on her way to get sunflowers, which many people carried to the city centre for the festival. While the flowers were sold all over the city, Sakura was getting them from somewhere else. Thankfully the Founder’s Memorial wasn’t too far from her on house.

There was a large fence around the massive memorial but Sakura had scaled it many times. She hid away her bicycle and climbed over the fence easily.  
The moment she dropped down to the other side, she was surrounded by sunflowers. The field was covered in them. She made her way to the middle of the field, where statues stood.

Even though thirteen year old Sakura had seen the statues many times, she was still utterly awed by them. They were the founders of the city after all.

In the middle of the row, stood Senku Ishigami, hand on his hip and hand held out. He was carved like this because he apparently gave high fives to the people he respected the most.

Next to him, was Gen Asagiri, the Mentalist. He was said to be one of Senku’s closest allies and someone he loved dearly. He stood with his hands clasped together hidden in yukata sleeves and a wide smile on his face.

On the other side of Senku, was Chrome Miru. He never originally had a surname, but adopted the word explore in Japanese as his last name. He was the scientist that continued the start of the new world after Senku’s death.  
Beside Chrome, was Ukyo Saionji, on one knee, pointing his arrow.

And next to Gen was Kohaku and Kaseki. Kohaku had helped with the defeat of Hyoga’s Army and Kaseki had been the brilliant man to carve these very statues.

The other statues included Tsukasa Shishio, Ginro and Kinro, Suika, Nikki Hanada, Taiju Oki, Yuzuriha Ogawa and the other villagers of the founding village.

Behind this row of statues were the astronauts who had escaped the petrification.

Sakura picked some sunflowers and made her way to the Memorial Museum near the field. It would still be open for a little longer. She ran straight through the large archway door, knowing her way around this place like the freckles on her face.

Along the long walls of the building, were massive drawings on cloth and artefacts from all the Founders  
The original cloth drawings by one of the Founders, Ruri, were encased in glass under the large modern recreations of the drawings. 

A drawing of Ukyo was on the wall. Above the drawing was an arrow, hundreds and hundreds of years old. It was an arrow the archer had used hundreds of years ago.

Above Kohaku’s drawing was a spear. Same with Ginro and Kinro. Tsukasa’s artefact was a massive axe. Yuzuriha had a sewing kit. Taiju had shells. Nikki had a glass record. Ruri had a pen. The drawings went on and on but Sakura still walked all the way to the end.

Chrome had two drawings next to him; one with Ukyo and the other with him and the village children, who all had hula hoops.

Gen’s artefact was a hand-made glass bottle with ‘Senku Cola’ scratched onto the front. Next to his portrait were two drawings. The one was of him and Senku sitting next to each other, Senku pointing to the moon with Gen’s head on his shoulder. The second one was of Gen forehead to forehead with the Senku statue that was now in the field, before all the other statues had been carved.

Next to Senku’s portrait was a drawing of him working on test tubes and beakers with Chrome and Gen watching curiously next to him and then him standing on a hill of graves, kneeling in front of a small grave stone.

The last enlarged drawing was of all the Founders.  
Senku Ishigami was blowing bubbles from soap with his fingers, surrounded by the other villagers. Kohaku and Ginro and Kinro watched in awe. Gen sat near the kids, showing them magic tricks with a gentle smile. Chrome was reaching out to pop a bubble.

Sakura felt a single tear run over her cheek. Senku’s father had started the journey to bringing back the world and Senku and Chrome had continued the journey. Gen and everyone had been there all along.

Sakura aspired to have friendships like that of Senku and Chrome and Chrome and Ukyo. She aspired to find love like Gen and Senku. She aspired to have strength like Kohaku and Nikki and Tsukasa. But most of all, she had faith. Faith in science and those around her just like the Founders of the New World.

“Hey kid!” a museum worker called. “We’re closing up!”

Sakura apologised, ran out the door and found her bike once more. Sakura watched the sunflowers bustle as they sat in the basket of her bicycle. She was on her to carry the sunflowers to the city centre for The Stone Day Festival.

 _This is exhilarating,_ she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go!  
> Finally a chapter with a happy ending.
> 
> Would you believe me if i said Hyoga is actually one of my all time favorite anime characters? I actually listened to one of favorite openings to cope through the sadness, Primary Colours.
> 
> I enjoyed writing this so much and the love from yall really made me so happy. You can find me and talk to me on Instagram at senkisboo
> 
> "It may be the worst case sernario, but I have to do what I can." ~Byakuya Ishigami

**Author's Note:**

> Ta-da *awkward finger guns*
> 
> If you're angry with me for doing . . . that, you have every right to be.
> 
> This is my first attempt at writing something sad and tragic. so it's probably garbage.
> 
> I'm starting school soon so the next chapter won't come out super quickly but i will try my best.
> 
> <3


End file.
